Auditing Resource Center

Resources

Contract Issues for Governmental Audits - The AICPA State and Local Government Expert Panel and GFOA worked together to develop this joint article intended to educate both governments and their auditors about clauses in contracts and engagement letters in the governmental environment that may not meet AICPA professional standards and that may create uncertainty about the auditor’s independence.

Multiple Auditors - GFOA recommends that governments take steps to ensure and facilitate the effective, efficient, and timely performance of group audits.

Offering Statements and the Auditor’s Role - GFOA makes the following recommendations regarding auditor association with audited financial statements included in offering statements and auditor association with audited financial statements posted on a governments website:

Having paid for the independent audit, a government owns the audited financial statements and should feel free to use them in any appropriate manner.

The independent auditor should not be permitted to create an essentially artificial association with audited financial statements included in offering statements or posted on the governments website simply by inserting a clause to that effect in the audit contract.

When the independent auditor actually does happen to become associated with audited financial statements included in an offering statement, a state or local government should take steps to avoid unwarranted delays and unjustified costs.

The audit contract should clarify that the government is free to post its audited financial statements on itswebsite.